Ex-Eagles Guitarist Says 'Heartache Tonight' Was An Afterthought For The Band

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder remembers that the band's 1979 chart-topper "Heartache Tonight" was an afterthought for the band. Felder, who's busy promoting his second solo album, Road To Forever, recalled the genesis of the song, which was written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, J.D. Souther -- with a little help from none other than Bob Seger for The Long Run.

Felder explained to SomethingElseReviews.com, "When we got towards the end of The Long Run, we realized that Glenn had nothing to sing on the record except this one song called 'Teenage Jail.' . . . So we called Bob Seger, and Bob had started about 60 or 70 percent of 'Heartache Tonight,' which was perfect for Glenn. So we got together, and J.D. Souther, Don, Glenn and Bob finished writing that, ran into the studio and recorded that for Glenn -- because it was the strongest thing for Glenn's representation on the record. We couldn't put out a record without Glenn singing a hit on it."

Longtime Eagles collaborator J.D. Souther gave us the inside scoop on the band's last chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 to date: "Glenn and I were walking around my living room, just clapping our hands -- no instruments -- and we were trying to write a Sam Cooke song. And if you think about the melody without instruments, it's very, very, Sam Cooke-ish, y'know? We got a verse-and-a-half, or, two into it and just couldn't think of a chorus and so, (laughs) Glenn called Seger on the phone and sang it to him, and Seger just came right in with, (sings) 'It's gonna be a Heartache Tonight!' So, Glenn called me back and said, 'We got a chorus.'"